Welding vise



Nov. 24, 1953 J. G. THOMAS WELDING VISE 2 Sheets-Sheet l FiledF'eb. 23, 1950 NIKE , INVENTOR.

-./AMJ a. THOMAS A a I n 3 m w 3 a Nov 24, 1953 J. G. THOMAS WELDING VISE.

Filed Feb, 25 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JAMES & man/ms LDING VIE.7; Mir

s hoinasfCleveland, Ohio "Apnlicatiop-ul lebruary 23, 1950 gpial-ll9142l2ll 3 Q1aim L ilk- .9)

'IZhis invention .-l-re lates to articles-( ldin ported by aLIOWI bear-ing izlnincorporatedin the baseilil and an uppenbearin'gzn incorporated,

in.i.'a scorer. .23.i lTheQdeVice "is; C p1et'ed/h'y...a handle 213110113, clamping;mechanism;includ n .s. dialdckiilg carm Whichengaees ajknurled fa e, 2% of a brake wheel ELmounted guponthejn hait... 2 .1. r.. a; LQIZ we. yise; ifi in ludes .a ifixed) whi h, isfastened to th a'mno tion l y a 51! "and pre erablyepositione @by in.

able Jaw29 isslidably mounted witlii po i ni fl i iormeiwhh n; one. accommodate a projection fi l l b spring 32. The inner face 33 of the. it e ily p r d -1. Wewii iiutl nesini h.r s aetnto direc of still further'object or the" invention isthe motion ofthe jaw and'ncorp orates N Th e fixture of the "invention"incorporatetwo vices for holding workpieces securely in angularly positioned relationship. The movable jaws of' thevices are ha'nd operated by a novel arrangement" including a follower c'am "'simultaneous1y==engaging a driver "cam and inclined inner faces of the movable jaws. Stated generally, the followerca'm-is constrained to move substantially rl w e. free y rot table t a o taun ts. the vab e J mayoieferabiyronn etar jayv @Ifiis a particularly advantageous feature ;angles with' respect tofm uof. t e devicet at high force magni i atiqnra ms tween:thearm'portionsld "and itpalthcugh such in b fo t in i r i i e ap d a d a an arrangement is not"es.'sentia1='to--th practice: n la l oftheiinventionfi v ;.'Ihese and other bjects, f atures, an spe ts zThe follower .c'ami lent the vice actuating tiih i nti ore r d a ren mechanism icomprisesaabody portion fonned by. fr m a consider iomof-the following detailed aucylindrical section of hardened material and description of a specific embodiment thereof, aLLPiIIJQAIIfittBdJ into theycamxabodynat a point, taken with annexed drawings, in which: Fig. adjaoentto the outer edge. 'A groove 43 i th 1 is a P View, With cover oved, of a fixture base I I acts as a receiver for th pin 41 so that m odyin h v n n; Fi 2 s a, rt go the cam is constrained to move along the line sectional view taken along the line 2 -2 of Fig. of the groove while being free to rotate. The

1,; Fig, 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along follower cam is thus free to assume any position the line 3--3 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a vertical for the simultaneous engagement of the driver sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1. cam I9 and the bearing plates and $6 of the Referring now to the figures, the fixture illus- Q5 movable jaws, whatever the position of those trated' therein comprises a body member or elements. The bearing surfaces of the base ll, frame [0 having a base II and vertical wall p0rthe driver cam 19, the follower cam l8, and the tions l2. The body member is formed with a bearing plates 35 and must, of course, be such centra1 portion 13, and two extended arm poras to minimize the friction between those parts.

tions l4 and 5 Serve as determinants for two The vice actuating mechanism serves to trans- Vices n respectively. h e t l porform rotational motion of the handle 24 into tion 13 provides support for the vice actuating translational motion of the movable jaws 29 and mechanism which includes a follower cam. I8 40 As the driver cam'l9 rotates, thefollower and a driver cam I9. The driver cam I9 is cam [8 tends to slide along the groove 48 and mounted upon a drive shaft 20 which is supexert substantially equal forces, upon the b ing plates 35 and 46 of the movable jaws. However, if one of the movable jaws engages a work piece before the other, as is shown in Fig. 1, the follower cam will assume a position such that the motion is primarily rotational about a point where the pin 4! bears upon a side wall of the groove 48. The turning force of the drive cam is thus transmitted to the more extended movable jaw while a force is maintained upon the remaining movable jaw. Due to this action, it will be seen that the device is particularly adapted for handling work pieces of unequal size.

In operation, the work pieces, such as, for example, the bar stock 49 and 50, is placed in the vices. The handle is then turned and the work .pieces may be securely positioned by the forces exerted by hand. The pieces are then clamped in place by operation of the locking cam 25. It is an advantageous feature of the invention that work pieces of a greatvariety of sizes may be accom'modated by adjustment of the fixed jaws 28 and 31. Further, jaws suitable for handling work pieces of special shapes, as for example, angle or channel strip, may be readily utilized with the basic clamping mechanism.

It is to be understood that specific terminology of the foregoing description of the embodiment of the invention is not intended to be restrictive or confining, and that various rearrangements and modifications of the parts may be resorted to without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

What is claimed is:

1.111 a welding fixture, the combination of a body member, two angularly related fixed jaws attached to said body member, spring retractable jaws mounted in said body and complementing said first named jaws to form Vises, each of said retractable jaws having a bearing surface at the inner end thereof forming an acute angle with respect to a line of symmetry between said jaws, a substantially circular sliding cam engaging the bearing surfaces of said retractable jaws, and an axially rotatable driver cam engaging said sliding cam a groove in the body member and a pin projecting from the sliding cam and into the groove for confining the movement of the sliding cam whereby rotation of the driver cam will produce sliding motion of each jaw whatever the position of the remaining jaw.

2. A clamp comprising a body member including spaced top and bottom walls, a first pair of spaced side walls, a second pair of spaced side walls and angularly spaced from the said first pair, a jaw member disposed between each of the pairs of side walls and constrained to slide into and out of the body member, a jaw member affixed to the body member and positioned adjacent the outer end of each sliding jaw member for cooperating with that member, and means for actuating the sliding jaw members comprising a handle outside the body member carried by a shaft extending into the interior of the body member, and a driver cam on the shaft, and a substantially circular follower disposed between and engaged with the inner ends of the sliding jaw members and with the driver cam, a groove in the body member and a pin projecting from the follower and received in the said groove for positioning the follower for engagement with the sliding jaw members.

' 3. A clamp for holding work pieces in fixed angular relationship comprising a body member including spaced top and bottom walls, a first pair of spaced side walls, a second pair of spaced side walls angularly spaced from the first pair, a jaw member disposed between each of the pairs of side walls and constrained to slide into and out of the body member, a jaw member affixed to the body member and positioned adl'acentthe outer end of each sliding jaw member for cooperating with that member, and means for actuating the sliding jaw members comprising a handle outside the body member carried on a shaft extending through the top and bottom walls, and a driver cam on the shaft, and a follower disposed between and engaged with the inner ends of the sliding jaw members and with thedriver cam, a groove extending along a line of symmetry between the jaw member and a pin projecting from the follower into the groove for positioning the follower, the follower comprising a round piece having the pin disposed between the center and edge thereof, and the inner ends of the sliding jaw members forming equal acute angles with the line of symmetry between the jaw members, the clamp being adapted to produce a positive clamping action whatever the disposition of the sliding jaws.

' JAMES G. THOMAS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,642,549 Jarecki Sept. 13, 1927 1,779,053 Stoner Oct. '21, 1930 2,165,322 Weston July 11, 1939 2,384,148 Yeager Sept. 4, 1945 2,417,144 Trimble Mar. 11, 1947 2,498,725 Thornburg Feb. 28, 1950 

